The present invention relates to a ribbon-decoration forming tool and a ribbon-decoration forming/attaching assembly using the tool, capable of forming a ribbon-decoration, such as decorative bow, from a ribbon strip, and readily attaching the formed ribbon-decoration to an object, such as a gift box or a gift or shopping bag.
There are a number of occasions of presenting a gift on happy events, such as wedding, birth, wedding anniversary, graduation and entrance, or seasonal events, such as Valentine day, White day and Christmas. Traditionally, on the occasion of presenting a gift even if it were handmade or purchased goods, the gift is wrapped in a fancy paper and decorated with a ribbon to make it a thoughtful present. In particular, a ribbon-decoration is an indispensable accessory of packaging.
A ribbon-decoration, such as a decorative bow or double bow, has been typically formed by knotting both ends of a single ribbon strip after binding a box with the ribbon strip in the form of a diagonal, crisscross or wedge pattern.
Further, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-175188 describes to attach a pre-formed ribbon decoration to a mounting board.
For tying a ribbon strip to provide a ribbon-decoration with well-looking appearance, a certain level of skill is required. It also takes a relatively long time to prepare the ribbon-decoration, resulting in increased waiting time of customers. Further, when it is necessary to prepare a number of ribbon-decorations in a short period, for example, on Valentine day, White day or the like, bags of time are required. Besides, any packages each wrapped with a ribbon-decoration can be neither stocked in superimposed manner nor sent with putting them superimposedly in a carton box because the superimposition of such packages causes deformation or squash of the ribbon-decoration or ribbon flower. Consequently, the ribbon-decoration has been mostly prepared in conjunction with sales activity, resulting in the same problem as described above.
In the above publication, the type of available ribbon flowers is limited, and thereby it is difficult to provide desirable coordination with various decorative ribbon strips bound around a box or the like. The mounting board also needs to have adhesive layers and releasing sheets. This inevitably causes increased cost, and the attachment with adhesive involves the possibility of falling off.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a ribbon-decoration forming tool capable of forming a ribbon-decoration without spending time and effort, and facilitating an attaching operation of the formed ribbon-decoration.
The present invention provided a ribbon-decoration forming tool for binding a decorative ribbon strip, which defines a plurality of loops, to form a ribbon-decoration. The ribbon-decoration forming tool comprises a first flat plate provided with an engagement member having an enlarged portion at the outer end thereof, a second flat plate having a holding portion for holding the engagement member with allowing the enlarged portion to protrude outside therefrom, a connecting member connecting the first flat plate and the second flat plate, and a binding portion for binding a ribbon strip to form a ribbon-decoration. The binding portion is defined by the first and second flat plates associated with each other in the relationship such that the enlarged portion protrudes outside from the holding portion, the connecting member and the engagement member.
The engagement member may be an engagement rod formed with the enlarged portion at the outer end thereof, and the holding portion of the second flat plate may be a through hole allowing the enlarged portion to be passed therethrough.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a ribbon-decoration forming/attaching assembly comprising the aforementioned ribbon-decoration forming tool, and a ribbon-decoration attaching tool for attaching the formed ribbon-decoration to an object. The ribbon-decoration attaching tool includes a holding portion for holding the enlarged portion which protrudes from the second flat plate of the ribbon-decoration forming tool.
The ribbon-decoration attaching tool may include an attaching portion adapted to be attached to an object. Further, the holding portion of the ribbon-decoration attaching tool may be a through hole, and the attaching portion may be an attaching hole having a notch.